Spientia et Fortidudo

And welcome to the city that almost killed me. Mariah lost her wallet within the first hour of arriving in Rome, Italy, and it only got more fun from there. After spending a good amount of time in (and looking for the) polizia station, we were on our way to our hostel… except the buses to get there were shut down for the night and it was 30 miles away. We finally managed to get close to the hostel, but when we called to ask for directions from the intersection, the Italian speaking host tried very hard to convince us that it was imperative that we “stay;” he came to get us. Our later couchsurfing host, Christian, told us that the place were stay at was known for it’s high crime rate. We were there at 1:30 am. Oh bug.

Trevi Fountain

Needless to say, we survived, but Rome had a few more tricks up it’s sleeve. After being silly and running around, pretending to be statues, I carelessly ran across what I thought was a one way street only to find out how wrong.

Biomimicry at it's best.

I now know that life does not flash in front of these eyes when death comes a knockin’. Okay, it was not life or death, but I did get hit by the car and I am still amazed that there was no real damage (save a tire mark on my leg). Oh well, we pressed on to day two.

The skylight of St. Mary's Basilica. It made delicious designs on the timeline laden marble floor.

There wasn’t a lot of damage done on day two… until I decided to follow Mariah up a stick infested hill as opposed to taking the more sturdy stair route. I think the scar that is engraved on my leg might disappear in a year or so.

Proof that Ancient Rome was better than the 2.0 version.

The sights of old Rome helped to heal the wounds, but I can only dream about what it would have been like to see these places on their own time.

Made for Mariah.

I wasn’t the only one to cave under Rome’s pressure. The fellow tourists sure got a show as Mariah tripped and tangled her way through the Vatican City Museums. I saw this sign just before we made it to the Sistine chapel… and just as Mariah’s feet decided to take another step without the rest of her in tow.

The Wrath: The Complete Series

Adonis and Evelyn? Either way, they messed up.

A favorite.

Even the Italian metro systems were covered in art!

The third day in Rome was much better and I almost got out scathe -free. The curb just popped up out of nowhere and attacked my ankle! At least it helped us to decide where to eat: I fell onto a restaurant patio.

Pocket-size-Ryan even got to join us on our adventures!

Keep your panties on, and welcome to the Pantheon!

We learned some valuable lessons in Rome like ignore those who stare, ignore those who talk at you, ignore those who are rude… Oh, and that the Pantheon was created 5,000 years ago and survived the times because it was a pagan temple before Constantine altered the religious sway.

Raphie's resting room.

At least I didn’t fall to the same fate as Raphael while in Rome. Rumor has it, the city was only trying to sabotage my stay because it wanted to keep me there (albeit six feet under…).